What is 'justice'? Most people would be happy with an answer in terms of 'fairness'. Justice is done when each receives his or her fair share or reward. What is 'justification'? The word is much less familiar, but best known in Protestant circles, in the phrase 'justification by faith'.
There it defines the doctrine that God accepts individuals as they trust in him and not on the basis of anything they do or have done.
What is the relation between the two? Most would find the question difficult to answer. But the definitions already given suggest that the two stand in some opposition.
A doctrine which denies that acceptability to God depends on what individuals do seems to run counter to the idea of each receiving his or her fair share or reward.
The consequence is that very few have bothered to ask whether there is or should be a closer and more positive relation between justification and justice.
The two have been allowed to become unrelated concepts. Justification has become confined to the sphere of religion and individual piety. Justice has become a matter for the state. The result is an unhealthy com part mentalizing of religion and social obligation.
2 The Justice of God But are the two concepts unrelated? Should justification by faith be so divorced from social justice? If instead of speaking of 'justice' we speak instead of 'God's justice' what difference would that make? Does the rather dated Protestant talk of 'justification by faith' have more to say to contemporary needs and concerns than has been generally recognized? These are some of the questions which lie behind this joint study.
They emerged as the agenda for a study group set up to plan a sequel to The Kingdom of God and North-East England (London: SCM, 1986), under the auspices of the Scripture, Theology and Society Group of The Foundation for the Study of Christianity and Society. After several false starts the format agreed was that adopted in the following pages.
The first three chapters are written by James D.G. Dunn, Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University.
In them the biblical foundations of the doctrine of justification by faith are examined afresh and a fuller understanding of justification brought to light in which the justice of God is shown to have national and social as well as individual outworkings.
The second part is written by Dr Alan Suggate, Lecturer in Theology at Durham University, who specializes in Christian Social Ethics.
Three case studies show how serious have been the effects of a misunderstanding of justification and of a false separation between justification and justice, and indicate clearly how a fresh restatement of the interaction of justification and justice could have considerable and fruitful consequences for international and social justice.
